Citizens suffer unfortunate double injury blow
Manchester City have been dealt an unwelcome double injury blow ahead of their derby day clash with local rivals Manchester United this weekend - as their first-choice centre-back pairing of Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otámendi both hobbled off with respective injuries during their 0-0 home draw against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv.
Kompany, who has been struggling with a number of troublesome calf and hamstring problems over the past twelve months, limped off after just six minutes when he pulled up with a calf complaint when dispossessing an attacker near the edge of the City area. He swiftly put the ball out of play, after a few seconds of restricted movement, and instantly went down to ground clutching his left leg. Supporters and teammates alike feared the worst for their captain, with the towering Belgian having only recently returned from a calf injury which meant he was sidelined for seven weeks between December and mid-February.
From bad to worse in quick succession
Receiving a warm round of applause from the home supporters, he limped off - being replaced by Eliaquim Mangala in a like-for-like substitution. Things went from bad-to-worse within twenty minutes of Kompany limping off, because his centre-back partner Nicolas Otámendi also succumbed to injury in a less-than-action packed first-half.
In an accidental collision with one of the Kiev players in the City half as both were challenging for a loose ball, the Argentine looked worse-for-wear and was hobbling momentarily before the decision was made to also take him off.
Martin Demichelis replaced his compatriot and for the remainder of the game, in spite of a few nervy moments, City managed to keep a clean sheet - and have consequently sealed their progress into this season's last-eight. The draw for the quarter-finals will take place on Friday, and the sky Blues have ended a run of 14 Champions League home fixtures without a clean sheet, last achieved during their draw against Bayern Munich in December of 2011.
Otámendi's injury is not believed to be as serious as Kompany's, although he was unable to continue with a suspected dead leg. We'll continue to deliver updates when we get official confirmation.